


Fallout: Southern Gothic

by hydralisk



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Gen, Unfinished, episodic, how the fuck do i tag that it's not done, serial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-08-07 17:23:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7723252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hydralisk/pseuds/hydralisk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the Minutemen's victory over the Institute, the scientists and early-model synths fled the wreckage of their laboratories. The Minutemen, satisfied that the Institute would no longer terrorize the people of the Commonwealth, let them run and turned their sights on the raider groups that still posed hazards to their people. </p><p> </p><p>The Brotherhood of Steel, however, was not so easily placated, and, under Elder Maxson's orders, chased the scientists through the Glowing Sea to eliminate the Institute -and the the prospect of synthetic humans- once and for all. Even with their air superiority, it was a monumental effort, and many Institute scientists and synths slipped through the cracks, preserving their research.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

One

April 6, 2288

 

"Admit it.  We're lost."

"Shut up, Justin, we're _not_ lost."  

"Do you have a different explanation for why we're sitting around while our fearless leader is doodling in the dirt?"

The bickering scientists glanced nervously across the small campsite, where their leader sat on a stump, drawing figures on the ground and making small contemplative sounds.  

"Maybe she's drawing a map?" said Madison quietly, and Justin groaned, exaggerated so Scar would hear.

"Shut up!" whispered Madison through her teeth, but Justin had already gotten Scar's attention.

Scar stood slowly like a waking giant and stretched her arms before turning around.

"What do you want, Doctor Ayo?" she asked, and Justin shrunk back just a little.  If he hadn't personally witnessed her carve through multiple squads of Brotherhood soldiers to drag himself and Doctor Li from the doomed Institute, he probably would have stood tall as he gave his daily ultimatum, but, the situation as it was, he was more than a little bit afraid of her.  Not that he would tell anyone, of course.

"Miss Scar, I am growing increasingly doubtful of your leadership capabilities, and I believe-"

He faltered as Scar took a step towards him.  Madison rolled her eyes at the scene.

"Doubtful?" Scar replied, cocking her head slightly to the side.  In the fading light, the shrapnel gouges on her face deepened, making her face look a little like a topographic map.  "You believe...what?  That you would be a better leader?  That we should stick to the road and stay out of the woods?  That maybe, _just maybe_ , this time your incessant whining would convince me to listen to you?"

"Um," said Justin.

"Doctor Ayo, I will drag you to Louisiana _kicking and screaming_ if I have to.  Believe me, if I could come up with a different way to get your knowledge to Vault 88, you wouldn't be here.  You'd probably be dead, with your brain loaded into a particularly ugly first-generation synth that would _actually fucking cooperate_ ."  She stared at him, snarling her words through gritted teeth.  "You don't seem to realize that that the Brotherhood's flying monstrosity _will_ find us if we're out on a road, and they've had no trouble disintegrating random scientist-types so far, so it would be more than a little absurd to think that they'd spare you.  You can follow, or you can die.  Have I made myself clear?"

Ayo, to his credit, didn't wet himself.  He nodded.

"Good."  She tossed a dried ration packet at him, smacking him in the nose.  

"Ow."

"Eat."  She handed one to Dr. Li as well.  "And, for what it's worth, I _was_ drawing a map.  You may want to look at it."

The scientists walked over, Ayo still holding his nose, and peered at the map.

"It's rudimentary, yes," Scar continued, "but better than nothing.  By my estimation we have another week, give or take a couple days.  Li's trick with the relay and the vertibird I borrowed cut off a lot of distance and got us through the Glowing Sea alive, but…"  She frowned at the crude map.  "It's going to be a hell of a job to even get to New Orleans at all, let alone find the G.E.C.K."  Scar sighed, turning to the scientists.  "Ought to get some sleep while you can," she said.  "Gonna be another long day for us."

 


	2. Chapter 2

Two

April 11, 2288

 

Brotherhood of Steel Elder Arthur Maxson paced the deck of the Prydwen , alone but for one other man.  

"You're lucky that you've proven yourself loyal and indispensable until now," said Maxson.  "If you were just about anyone else, I would have no trouble throwing you from this ship myself."  He turned sharply, facing the other man.  "You've put me in an awkward situation here, Knight-Captain.  Treasonous talk behind my back…"  He shook his head.  "I cast you out, I risk backlash from the troops.  I overlook your insubordination and I look weak.  What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Well, Elder," began Knight-Captain John Harrison, "You could always change your mind.  Paladin Danse was-"

"A filthy fucking machine!"

" And the most loyal brother you could possibly ask for!  He'd-"

"You are dismissed , Knight-Captain.  Return to your quarters immediately or face the consequences."

Harrison clenched his fists but held his tongue.  "Yes, sir," he managed, before turning to walk away.

"Harrison."

He stopped walking.  "Yes, sir?"

"Don't ever speak his name again."

"Yes, sir."  As he left, Harrison tried to stop himself from imagining Maxson's head smashed under his bootheel.


	3. Chapter 3

Three

April 19, 2288

 

The Assaultron stalked through the Louisiana bayou, stepping noiselessly through the knee-high swamp, sensors calibrated to pick up the tiniest, most insignificant motion.

It whipped its head to the left, picking up two unauthorized human contacts.

"Shh," said one of them in a voice that was quiet to human ears.  "I don't think the Enclave knows we're here yet.

"Can we just get out of here?" asked the other.  "It's not like the disappearances are a mystery."

Three new contacts.  Northeast.  Human.   The Assaultron paused.   Authorized.

 

One of the 'unauthorized human contacts' stared, squinting, into the darkness.

"What-" said the other, and the first shushed him.  

"It's Ravager.  Gotta be.  We need to leave."  She pulled at her friend's shoulder.

"Maybe it hasn't seen us yet," he replied.  "We need to get a good lo-"

 

A blinding beam of caustic red light cut off his train of thought shortly before cutting him in two.

"Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck," said the first, ducking behind a gnarled tree, clutching her jury-rigged submachine gun in trembling hands.

 

"What was that ?" asked Justin Ayo too loudly, and Scar gave him a cold look before checking the charge in her borrowed Institute laser pistol.

"RobCo Assaultron," she muttered in reply.  "Either that or the big-ass Brotherhood robot's head is rolling around here somewhere."  She glanced at the scientists.  "Got thermal sensors.  Stay here, cover yourselves up as much as possible, and-"

 

Ravager fired its beam again, disintegrating the tree and the woman huddled behind it.  Her scream was brief but chilling, truncated as her lungs turned to ash.

 

"New plan," said Scar, "we stay here, cover up, and wait for it to go away."

"Is this how you deal with all your problems?" asked Li.

Scar gave her a rare smile.  "Only most of them."

 

Their campsite that night was the ditch they were already lying in and covered in a tarp to keep Ravager's thermal sensors from picking them up.

 

It didn't work, but it didn't matter.  To Ravager, they were on the guest list.


	4. Chapter 4

Four

April 20, 2288

 

Scar got much less sleep than a human being should, but far more than she was comfortable with.  Normally she awoke at dawn, long before the lethargic scientists did, but the tarp that covered their improvised sleeping arrangements kept the morning sun out and kept her in unsettling dreamland for an extra hour and a half.

"I just realized that this whole time we've been traveling with her, we've never seen her sleep," whispered Madison Li.  "It's almost voyeuristic."

"Voyeuristic or not, it's buying us a little extra time," replied Justin.  "I'd rather not waste the opportunity."  He frowned at Scar, snoring, her hand hovering over the laser pistol at her side.  "She's not exactly a little sleeping angel."  He looked closer.  "Ew, she's sweating."

"And they say chivalry is dead," grumbled Madison as Scar's eyes twitched.  "Although I will admit to a level of concern regarding our safety at the moment.  She seems to be having a very vivid dream of some kind.  Maybe we should wake her up."

" Are you insane!? " asked Justin in a conspiratorial whisper.  "This is our chance to get out of here!  Vault 88 is just nearby.  You've seen what she's capable of; do you think she's going live happily ever after with us once she gets inside the Vault?"

Madison glanced nervously at Scar.

"Plus, " Justin continued, "She may very well kill us when she wakes up, accidentally or otherwise."

"I don't know about this.  I can't justify abandoning the woman who is responsible for our lives."

Justin looked up, partway through stuffing his sleeping bag into his backpack.  "Well, I'm leaving.  I know people on the inside.  Come with me and you'll have full access to Vault 88."

"Last time I made a deal like that, I ended up working at the Institute."  Her eyes narrowed.  "With you ."

Justin shrugged.  "Suit yourself," he said, rolling his eyes, and set off into the bayou.

 

***

 

John Harrison stood at attention, as he did most mornings, but today was different.  He awaited his assignment for the first real military exercise since the battle at CIT.  It was an exciting time for all his comrades, but he dreaded the coming fight, because just as he expected-

"Knight-Captain Harrison, you are assigned to lead Drop Team Alpha."  The Paladin saluted him.  "Ad Victoriam!"

"Ad Victoriam," replied Harrison, trying to look excited about being assigned to what was almost certainly a death sentence as he saluted back.  

 

Elder Maxson cleared his throat as he stood in front of the assembled troops.

"Brothers and Sisters," he began, "we beat the Institute.  We beat the Railroad.  We worked with the Minutemen while it served our purposes, but now the winds of duty have brought us from the Commonwealth in pursuit of the abominations called Synths."

The assembled soldiers jeered at the term.

"Don't worry, I, too, share your hatred of the foul machines, but now we have a new war on our hands.  A different war."

"Different my ass," grumbled Harrison to himself.  "War never changes."

A nearby soldier glanced at him.

"Uh, war ever rages, am I right?"

The other soldier shrugged and turned his attention back to Maxson.

 

"We have learned that the the synthetic menace can trace its roots much further than the Institute."  Maxson paused for effect.  "Most of you know that I came from the Capitol Wasteland, where mankind was under attack from both Super Mutants and the Enclave.  We thought we had wiped the Enclave out."  He took a slow, deep breath.  "We were wrong, and over time we've learned that Enclave remnants scattered are scattered all over the world, some of whom managed to infiltrate the Institute and take part in their insidious projects.  Yes, the Institute was evil, but they were just a puppet for a much greater enemy.  The Institute and their Synths meant harm to humanity, but the resurgent Enclave could mean far worse."

He clenched a fist, striking the railing next to him with it.  "We have followed these rats as they scurried back to their home, and we've found a fortified Enclave bunker."  Elder Maxson grinned fiercely.  "We're done chasing!  As we speak, the _Prydwen_ is closing in on their position.  We strike today , with the sun at our back, and they won't even see the _Prydwen_ until it's too late.  Ad Victoriam!"

"Ad Victoriam," muttered Harrison.

 

***

 

Scar awoke suddenly, as if someone had sent an electric current through her, and whipped her head around.

The scientists!  Where are they?

She jumped to her feet, grabbing for her laser pistol and cursing bitterly when it wasn't in her holster, where she usually kept it.  She snatched her holdout pistol from her boot and started searching when she picked up a noise, a soft, rhythmic whistling sound.  She cocked the pistol and followed the whistle, which was occasionally interrupted by a snuffling, expecting to find a pig that had a flute jammed into its snout, but instead found Dr. Madison Li, asleep and leaning on a tree stump, with Scar's laser pistol cradled in her lap.

Scar smirked, carefully plucking the weapon from the sleeping woman before nudging her awake.

"Hey, Doc."

Madison kept whistle-snoring.

"Doctor Li."

No response.  Scar rolled her eyes, grabbed Li by the shoulders, and shook her slightly, which seemed to do the trick.

"OH MY G- oh."  She exhaled slowly, calming herself.  "Looks like I'm a little too old to be keeping watch.  Dozing off like a grandmother in a comfy chair."  She stood, shaking dirt and leaves from her clothes.  "You may have noticed that Justin took advantage of your slumber and hightailed it out of here."

"Oh, I know."  Scar grinned, accentuating the ragged stitches on her face.  "And I know exactly where he went."  She paused.  "Doctor, do you hear that?"

"Scar, I'm fifty-nine years old.  If you barely hear something, there's no way…" she trailed off, head cocked to the sky.  "...I'd hear it."

Scar looked at the doctor, eyebrows raised.  "It's getting louder," she said, nodding to the clouds above.  "I'll give you one guess as to what it is."

Madison threw up her hands, a despondent gesture.  "How would they know where to find us?  Are they after the G.E.C.K. too?  What would they even want with it?"  She kicked a pine cone into the underbrush, scowling.  "Probably just want to hoard it and make sure nobody else gets to use it.  Xenophobic bastards."  She looked back at Scar.  "Now what?"

"Now we get to cover before hell itself rains down on us."

 

***

 

"Sir!"

Maxson whipped around.  "What is it, Captain?"

Lancer-Captain Kells gestured to his displays.  "Drop Team Alpha's reporting heavy anti-air facilities!"

"They must have known we were coming…" muttered Maxson.  "We've come too far for the Enclave to stop us.  Move the _Prydwen_ out of the AA guns' line of sight for now."

"Not really much for that besides trees, sir."

"Trees will have to do, then.  We stay back, deploy ground troops to take out the anti-air, then move in with everything we've got."  He pressed the intercom button.  "Ingram, prepare to deploy Mark Three on my command."

"Yes sir," came the reply, thin and tinny through the speaker.

In the Vertibird repair bay, Proctor Ingram tended to a massive, hulking humanoid shape, muttering to herself about wiring and power sources, then, considering her work complete, stood at attention next to a control panel.  "Mark Three is ready for drop."  She paused.  "We, ah, should probably drop him first, _then_ deploy the rest of the ground forces.  Don't want him landing on them."

"Good point, Ingram."  Maxson glanced at Kells.  "Captain, are we in position?"

Kells nodded.  

"Alright.  Drop him, Ingram!"

Proctor Ingram entered a command sequence into the console.  The repair bay doors opened, and Liberty Prime MK III fell to earth.

 

***

 

Harrison felt the impact shudder through his power armor.  Even though he fought alongside Liberty Prime during CIT, he was still shocked by the thing's obscene size.  He smirked behind his helmet.  Self-righteous killing machines, totally detached from any understanding of a real enemy...it was no wonder that the Brotherhood of Steel was so fond of Liberty Prime.  Synths and Ghouls were just the Brotherhood version of Liberty Prime's 'Red Chinese,' just a scapegoat enemy used to justify their actions.

 

***

 

"Christ, that thing is fucking massive, " murmured Scar.

Madison pulled at her jacket apprehensively.  "Shouldn't we be, you know, running?"

"I don't think so.  I doubt the Brotherhood would deploy that glorified Assaultron to chase after two scientists and a...whatever I am."

Madison gave her a strange look.  

"Mercenary," finished Scar.  "Anyway, it seems to be headed for that building over there, which is also where Doctor Ayo seems to be hiding."

"Building?  I can't see it."

"You should have a better view of it if we move up a litt-"  she trailed off, squinting at the structure, and more specifically the emblem emblazoned on it.  "Oh my God, that's an Enclave bunker…"  Scar stopped for a moment as pieces fell into place.

Doctor Li was uncharacteristically furious.  "I should have known.  I should have _fucking_ known. "

"Not a fan of the Enclave?"

"We've had our...differences...in the past," replied Madison through clenched teeth.  "Worked with the Brotherhood to keep them from sabotaging 87's G.E.C.K.," she said bitterly.  "It looks like they haven't given up."

"You worked with the Brotherhood?"

"Yes."  Her brow furrowed.  "I didn't think it was a secret."

"Maybe not, but it's still news to me."

"Well, yes.  I worked with the Brotherhood, and I'm partially responsible for the abomination flattening the swamp in its wake."  She shook her head.  "Terribly inefficient design.  I don't know what RobCo or the United States were thinking when they pumped out that trash, but the Brotherhood absolutely refused to let me improve the design."  She shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant but clearly still irritated by the situation.  "Guess they just wanted a giant robot to live out their impotent testosterone-fueled rampage fantasies.  They certainly got one."

Scar eyed the looming robot warily.  "Inefficient or not, it certainly killed the shit out of the Institute."

Li shrugged again.  "Could have done it faster if they had implemented some of my designs."  She squinted at it.  "What's it doing?"

Scar had a pair of binoculars out.  "Just walking towards the bunker, and it's not alone."

"What do you mean?"

She handed the binoculars to the doctor.  "Look just behind the robot.  Whenever it knocks a tree down, you can catch a glimpse of a bunch of Brotherhood goons in power armor."

 

***

 

Once the monstrous machine fired, all hell broke loose.  

Brotherhood Knights charged from the treeline, covered by Gauss-rifle-wielding sharpshooters, as Enclave gun emplacements lit up the battlefield like fireworks.  

The two Institute refugees watched from relative safety as  Liberty Prime's laser scythed through a building with missile bays on the roof, and then the loud humming noise grew louder.

 

The _Prydwen_ approached.

 

"I don't get it," muttered Scar.  "Is the Brotherhood here to beat up the Enclave because of a ten year old grudge?"

"I bet they realized the same thing I have," said Madison.  "Doctor Ayo was an Enclave plant."

Scar glanced sharply at her.  "No.  There's no way."

"Think about it," Madison replied.  "The previous SRB head dies under mysterious circumstances, Doctor Ayo shows up at the perfect time to take his place, then spends most of his time turning the Commonwealth against the Institute and the Institute against itself, fostering paranoia inside and out."

"Sounds like a conspiracy theory."

Madison rolled her eyes.  "The whole Institute is a conspiracy theory!"

"And it turned out to be real.  Plenty of other conspiracy theories didn't."  Scar was silent as the women watched the Enclave vs Brotherhood grudge match.  "I…"  She sighed.  "More than anything else, I don't want to give that spineless twerp any credit.  Even though he fucking tricked me into bringing him to his fucking doorstep.   Damn it!  How could I get duped so badly?"

 

***

 

John Harrison knew that he'd been duped for years, but, once you're a Brother or Sister, it's a little hard to back out with both your dignity and your life.  In his experience, deserters tended to lose both.  As a result, he did as he was told, resenting every moment of his career.

He followed in the wake of the monstrous machine, occasionally raising his rifle to his shoulder and spitting a halfhearted laser pulse at some Enclave soldier, just another pawn in someone else's pointless war.  

An explosion, louder than the din of battle by several orders of magnitude, tore through the forest and rattled his teeth as cement rained from every direction.

"Elder, the anti-air facility has been destroyed!" reported Lancer-Captain Kells.

"Great work, brothers and sisters!" shouted Maxson over the radio.  It wasn't hard for Harrison to see why the Brotherhood followed the man; for whatever else he was, he was a man of the people, and his excitement was contagious.  "Keep the pressure on those bastards!  The _Prydwen_ is coming to back you up!"

Harrison squinted, certain he'd caught movement at the edge of his vision.  Something moved in the bunker's wreckage, he was sure.

"Kells, I think I've got something down here."

"Oh, Knight-Captain, you're still alive.  How nice."

"I'm not kidding, Kells, something else is d-"

One of his squadmates cut him off with a piercing scream.

He glanced to his left, but the only the bottom half of a T-60 suit remained, dribbling with steaming gore.

"Fall back!" he barked.  Suicide mission or not, he didn't intend to die.  "Kells, something got George.  Cut him in half like an aluminum can."

"What?!  That's impossible!"  

"If I find the top half of him then maybe you can take the suit in for a refund, but right now Alpha is backing off."

"Okay...got it, Knight-Captain, I'll tell Maxson-"

"Tell me what?" asked Elder Maxson, and Lancer-Captain Kells turned to him, saluting quickly.

"Sir, Alpha Squad is reporting an unidentified assailant near the Enclave AA faci-"

"Then move the _Prydwen_ in to support!"

"But..."  Kells trailed off.  "Yessir.  Moving in."

 

***

 

The machine dropped the top half of Knight George Streeter on the ground, scanned the nearby area for contacts, then sawed the unfortunate soldier's head off.  It examined the helmet, located the radio, and carefully excised the unit from the blood-spattered aluminum housing.

 

It considered the radio, then glanced up at its towering cousin.

 

***

 

Harrison's pulse raced.  Sweat beaded on his brow and threatened to drip into his visor.

"Alpha, keep your eyes peeled.  Whatever got George is still out here."

"Could have been shrapnel," suggested one of his knights.

"I don't make a habit out of staking lives on 'could have,'" growled Harrison as a humming noise got louder.  "What the fuck?"  He hailed the Prydwen .  "Kells, what the hell are you doing?"

"Moving into position, _Knight-Captain_ ," Kells replied, heavily emphasizing Harrison's rank.  "Elder Maxson's orders."

Harrison sighed.  "Well, I guess there's n- holy shit!"  Harrison raised his rifle and fired, pulses of hot red light punching through the Enclave trooper just before the RPG over his shoulder rocketed away in a streak of grey smoke.

 

The projectile went wide, soaring past the _Prydwen_ like a confused carrier pigeon, and Harrison breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Liberty Prime looked up at the _Prydwen_ , head cocked as if curious about they way such a massive thing floated in the sky, then fired.

 

The robot's beam slashed through the _Prydwen_ , rending it easily in two and igniting the hydrogen fuel it carried.  The _Prydwen_ , an inferno by any other name, plummeted to the bayou below as the Brotherhood of Steel looked on in shock.

 

"What the fuck?!"

"Move!  We're all fucking dead if that hits us!"

The rest of the Brotherhood seemed to have the same idea, if the mass exodus of soldiers from the forest was any indication.  

Proctor Ingram, meanwhile, was trying to decide between jumping from the plummeting inferno and purging whatever hostile program had infected Liberty Prime.  

She elected to do both, pulling the giant robot's command interface from the console and jacking it into her armor's power supply before opening the repair bay doors and hurtling herself toward earth.

 

"Move!" shouted Harrison.  "That thing's not on our side anymore!"

 

He was right, at least for the time being.  Liberty Prime cut down a pair of vertibirds with a casual glance in their direction as Ingram fell like a brick, trying everything she knew and then some to disable Prime.

Her last thought before she hit the ground was one of Pyrrhic victory as the robot's visor darkened and its systems shut down, never to start again.

 

"Doctor!"

Madison didn't know how long Scar had been trying to get her attention, but her hopes and suspicions on that issue were diametrically opposed to one another.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"I'm going for cover.  You coming?"

The doctor looked at the increasing mayhem around them.  "I'd just slow you down."  

Scar seemed to consider this for a moment before tossing the laser pistol to the aging scientist.

"Well, it's better than being defenseless," she said, then gave Scar, who was kneeling, a confused look.  "What are you doing?"

"I'm giving you a piggyback ride, grandma, now hurry up!"

Madison smiled in spite of the situation, then climbed aboard.


End file.
